There is a similar vibe to both the horror comedy This Is The End and the superhero reboot Man of Steel, that being that they’re fantasy movies where spectacularly large, world-destroying things happen.   The happy coincidence is that they’re awesome.

MAN OF STEEL

4 outta 5

In Man of Steel on the self-destructing alien planet of Krypton, the villainous General Zod is fighting against Jor-El (Russell Crowe) who sends his own son, Kal, to safety on Earth.  On the blue world, Kal is adopted by the friendly farmers, Jonathan (Kevin Costner) and Martha (Diane Lane).  Now known as Clark he spends his teenage years trying to manage superpowers that his family insists he hides.  The childhood flashbacks are interspersed through the movie while adult Clark (Henry Cavill) wanders the globe.  Apparently showing the story in chronological order like the ‘78 Superman movie is considered a drag.  While wandering he finds an ancient Kryptonian vessel filled with knowledge about his alien origins.  The discovery of the alien craft draws the attention of the U.S. Military, an intrepid Daily Planet reporter, Lois Lane (Amy Adams), and unfortunately, General Zod and goons who confront the wayward Last Son of Krypton.   

Directed by Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300) and produced Christopher Nolan who was behind the Dark Knight trilogy it doesn’t feel very like a Snyder movie; the film isn’t hyper-stylized and there’s basically no slow motion.  Nolan’s influence is in the realistic portrayal of a flying man from outer space and Hans Zimmer’s propulsive, bombastic, musical score.  This may be guilty of retelling one of the best known origins without really adding anything new, however, Superman has a fairly compelling origin.  The movie kicks off for a solid 20 minutes on Krypton and it’s a visual spectacle. 

This version does a very good job of accentuating the alien aspect through the freaky production design and the strange remoteness of Zod’s crew. Snyder ramps the action up where by the end it’s basically 40 straight minutes of buildings collapsing.  There is a lot of great beats, the final smack-down that Supes has with Zod is wildly entertaining as Zod puts Clark into a horrible position, but the destruction can start to blur together.  Another detriment is that while the fate of Pa Kent is key for the Superman mythos in Man of Steel Pa leaves the flick a profoundly stupid manner where Clark could easily done something.  It’s downright aggravating.

A highlight is Shannon’s evil scenery chewing as Zod and his villainous sidekick played by Antje Trauce with cold menace.  Adams manages to invest some depth into a character that can sometimes be kidnap bait.  As for the man of steel himself, Cavill balances the various layers; naive farmboy, good hearted person, cocksure superhero and God-like destructive space alien. One of the film’s best moments that speaks to the thematic point of Superman is when Lois is plummeting to certain doom and Jor-El, with the perfect amount of sage intonation by Crowe, tells Clark, “You can save her, Kal.  You can save all of them.”  While the Superman story has been done this is delivered with passion, spectacle, and heart.  

THIS IS THE END

4 outta 5

Apocalyptic movies and TV has seen a bit of an upswing lately (2012, “The Walking Dead”, “Revolution”, Hunger Games).  Eventually you hit the parody phase with This Is The End.  Written and directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Pineapple Express) the movie casts celebrities as outsized versions of themselves.  Jay Baruchel returns to L.A. to visit his friend Seth and they go to a party hosted by James Franco with lots of other Hollywood people.  With guests like Micheal Cera in the midst of a coke binge (Cera’s time is brief but some of the movie’s greatest stuff as he gleefully plays against type) things get weirder when the apocalypse happens. 

The apocalyptic imagery is downright biblical as people are taken up in a rapturous beam of white light and others are left below as Hell cracks opens underneath.   It’s pretty great if you ever wanted to see the Earth swallow up celebs you may dislike such as Cera or Rihanna or Aziz Ansari.  Now Jay and Seth are stuck in Franco’s house, their fellow survivors including the emotional Craig Robinson, the disastrously dangerous Danny McBride, and the extremely irritating Jonah Hill.  The majority of the film is set inside as we see glimpses of chaos through the boarded up doors. 

First time directors Rogen and Goldberg are surprisingly slick, even if most of the movie’s direction is based around the “point the camera at your actors and let them vamp” school of comedic directing.  Some riffs go on a hair too long but nothing as egregious as in some of Judd Apatow’s latter-day work.  They handle the FX portions well; when world-ending demons pop up they look comedic and horrific.  You can accuse the flick of being a little walk-on heavy however some of the movie’s best bits are these moments; the aforementioned insanity of Cera, the mind-blowing precision usage of Channing Tatum, the unexpectedly awesome piece of Emma Watson.  With Christopher Minz-Plasse popping up that leads to a hilarious 30-second Superbad reunion between him, Cera and Hill.

The five main actors are while funny projecting thinly veiled disgust for each other.  Baruchel is the group’s conscience, Rogen and Robinson provide asides, Franco is awesomely self-absorbed and with a weird crush on Rogen.  The guy who instigates a lot of the trouble in the house is McBride who snaps early and often.  Hill plays an irritatingly nice person who apes the appearance of human feelings. 

The end of the movie is gloriously silly, a wacky capper to the insanity that preceded it.  With a dash of Ghostbusters supernatural doings, some nicely timed R-rated gore scares, movie stars skewering their own weirdness, and lots of funny parts throughout, This Is The End manages to pull off the difficult balancing act of the horror comedy genre.  It’s hilarious, profane, and freaky all at once.

Both This Is the End and Man of Steel jump headfirst into apocalyptic chaos and end up being supremely entertaining.  Kneel before superior summertime blockbuster moviemaking!